Most schools could face ‘failing’ label under No Child Left Behind, Duncan says

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/duncan-most-schools-could-face-failing-label/2011/03/09/AB7L2hP_story.html

Most schools could face ‘failing’ label under No Child Left Behind, Duncan says

The Obama administration came out on Wednesday saying that more than three-quarters of the nation’s public schools could soon be ‘failing’ under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.  They  are planning on making some changes to this law .  It is estimated that 82% (up from 37% from last  year)  of schools could miss their academic target.  Some defenders of NCLB say that Obama’s efforts may let some schools off the hook and allow them to not help their students who need the most aid. 

According to  the article,“Obama’s plan calls for schools to be rated on how much academic growth their students achieve. Those that excel would be rewarded, the vast majority in the middle would be given more flexibility to choose strategies to improve, and the lowest performers would face a stricter federal mandate to adopt a stringent school turnaround program.”

Under NCLB students must be tested in math and reading three times before finishing eightth grade, and once more in high school.  Adequate Yearly Progress is then determined by looking at these scores along with attendance and graduation rates.

The article states,“The Center on Education Policy reported that 28 percent of schools nationwide missed the No Child benchmarks in 2007, 35 percent in 2008 and 33 percent in 2009. The center estimates that at least 37 percent fell short last year. In the Washington area, the center found that the failure rate in 2009 was 23 percent for Maryland, 28 percent for Virginia and 75 percent for the District.”

I know that there are some schools that prepare their students better than others, but I find it hard to believe that as high as 35% of schools nation wide are failing on that basis.  If that is truly the case, then we need to look at that, find out why that is happening, and make a change.  The article also talks  about how the law sets up many ways for districts to fail, but not many opportunities for them to excell.  There has been talk about NCLB since it came into effect.   The idea behind it (to create an opportunity for all students to receive an adequate education) is great and I think that all students should be able to receive a good education, but not all students want it or are able to perform as well as  others.  There are hints about this law being rewritten by next year, and I hope that they will find a way to reach all students and help each one excell.